The initiative (Partners HealthCare On Demand) will first be exclusively offered to commercial members of the system's health plan, Neighborhood Health Plan (NHP), which will become AllWays Health Partners on January 1, 2019. Patients will be connected to providers through a secure video visit accessed through the web or a mobile device

With the Office for the National Coordinator (ONC) setting an accuracy goal of 0.5 percent by 2020 and 0.01 percent by 2024, pressure is mounting to find a viable solution to the nation’s patient identification and matching crisis.

Wilkie in his testimony before the Senate committee stressed that the new Cerner system is the first step towards modernizing the agency’s appointment system, as well as automating disability and payment claims.

The program which is considered to be the first program in the U.S. to connect EDs across one state, will facilitate real-time communication and collaboration among health care providers, health plans, clinical and care management personnel for patients receiving services in Emergency Departments.

Two of the largest EHR vendors have conflicting plans for 2018, with Allscripts broadening its product portfolio while Cerner is focusing on two landmark EHR modernizations that could have industry-wide gravitational pull.

The health insurer reported $1.2 billion Q2 earnings. Its Medical membership totaled 22.1 million. Commercial membership fell below 4.0 million, continuing a trend the insurer has seen for years. However, enrollment in its ASC and Medicare products continues to rise.

A summary of this week’s health news with Urgent care facilities making headlines. Meanwhile, the office of the Inspector General (OIG) has said that HHS needs to recover $341K for former HHS Secretary Tom Price's improper travel spending

The MHCC's "Wear the Cost" initiative provides prices at Maryland hospitals for common non-emergent procedures including hip replacements, knee replacements, hysterectomies and vaginal births to allow residents see the differences in price.

Continuous risks posed by insiders are making penalties for violations to become more frequent. A criminal violation can occur as a result of an intentional act which is in violation of HIPAA privacy or security requirements

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that in 2016, over 42,249 Americans died from opioid overdoses, the most of any year on record. More than 2.1 million Americans had an opioid use disorder in 2016, with economic costs from the epidemic estimated to be as much as $504 billion dollars.

Cigna's CFO said the insurer's deal with Express Scripts will "meaningfully move the needle on affordability. He added that unlike its competitors, Cigna isn't planning to make any acquisitions on the provider side.

Robert Tennant, the director of health information technology policy at MGMA says health insurers are not complying with the HIPAA transaction rules, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs to become more aggressive in its enforcement.

Hospitals are mandated to report their readmission information to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS)who introduced the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in 2012. The CMS then uses the data submitted by these hospitals to regulate and penalize those who have a higher than expected readmission rate.

Mark Caron of Capital BlueCross says that the shift from fee-for-service payments to value-based care might result in a need for fewer hospitals, as the next-generation of care will be provided somewhere different.